FDA Panel Rejects Sanofi Drug for Obesity

By

Jennifer Corbett Dooren and

Jeanne Whalen

Updated June 14, 2007 12:01 am ET

WASHINGTON -- A Food and Drug Administration panel unanimously rejected Acomplia, a weight-loss drug from Sanofi-Aventis SA, on concerns the drug increases the number of psychiatric events like depression and suicidal thinking among users.

The decision is a blow to the Paris-based drug maker, which is hoping to sell Acomplia on the U.S. market. The FDA typically follows its panels' advice but isn't required to do so. The FDA is set to make a final decision on whether to approve Acomplia, known generically as rimonabant, by...